Hell In Her Soul
by Nanuri169
Summary: A thousand years ago the story of a family that would become legendary began. But also the story of a girl named after the goddess of death - Hela. Being abandoned by her father, a powerful clans leader, she grew up among savage amazons and was raised to be a warrior. But when Hela got beaten in a battle she was again left behind. (ElijahxOC)
1. Chapter 1

"Not long ago many clans fled their homeland to stay away from a terrible plague that took many valued lives. They arrived at the shores of a promised, untouched land that we now call our home. The clans learned to live hand in hand with the native inhabitants and accepted natures gifts. Those with the gift of magic could practice freely, they are considered respected members of the clans.

One of the greatest clans the world has ever seen came along with the other settlers. Their king Sigmund was the first to set foot on the land. Together with his with his wife, a beautiful queen that every man had wanted when she was still unspoken for, they built a home and helped every clan, little or bigger, to make a living. Sigmund vowed to protect every clans member and in return, the clans agreed to bow in front of their king. Until today he reigns in the biggest settlement of this new world. He is a very fair king, he treats every one equally, even the native inhabitants with whom he created a network of trade.  
It wasn't long until the king and queen, who was called Bryn, received the gift of fertility. Thinking that this would mean their greatest joy, it was the end of a once shining king. Bryn had an uncomplicated pregnancy but when she gave birth to her child, she died gruesomely. It was told Bryn's cries could be heard to the sea, where the waves swallowed the sound before it could wake Helheim's creatures.

Sigmund was angry. He was raging and he blamed his newborn daughter. The little girl inherited all of her mother's beauty. She had white, silky hair and green eyes that resembled the woods when they started spreading out their first messengers of spring. It made her father even more angry and he called in for a very old law. He named his daughter Hela, after the goddess of death that reigns Helheim. Then, he send her to a trial that could forgave her sins. He brought the baby deep into the woods and left her there unprotected in the dangers of the cold wilderness. The law said that if the infant was still alive the next day, she would be free of any sin and could return home. If it was dead, it was wicked and infected by Hela's darkness. The father was suppose to leave a well forged sword with the child and if it would pass the trial, the sword would be enchanted to win every battle the soon to be warrior fought.

When Sigmund came back in the morning to see if his daughter survived, she was gone. For the kind it was a clear case. The wolves had taken the baby and killed it for their pleasure. He had freed himself from his sins and was ready to take another bride.

But what made everyone wonder is that the sword was gone with the child. Until today people whisper about the princess Hela that was raised by wolves or whatever lived in those woods. They say that she waits for the day to get revenge, that she eats raw flesh to get stronger and that she trains mercilessly every day to be able to kill her father and his offsprings. Rumor also spread that the king is haunted every night by the thought of his firstborn still being alive. Since then, his reign has changed. The native inhabitants are declared savages and high taxes and hard punishments are make life for the clans more difficult. Still the clans members stay with their king and protect him from eery threat, because the harvests and the cattle are still productive enough to feed any one.

Just be sure, little Henrik, to always follow your king at first, your father at second and your heart at third. Their unison will cause you a healthy life, little boy."

Esther stroked the hair out of her youngest son's face. He fell asleep during her story, but the mother didn't mind, as the boy had heard it often before. Her husband Mikael started telling it when Henrik was still in her belly.

"Quite dark for a bedtime story, isn't it, mother?"

Her second oldest son smiled down to her and Esther returned it. She was so gifted with her six healthy children. Her oldest boys already had grown into proper and strong men. Whenever she looked into Elijah's or Finn's face she couldn't help but let the pride swell her heart. But then her heart would be clouded when she thought about her own firstborn. Never had she gotten over loosing her.

"Believe me, Elijah, your father had told you more horrible stories when you were younger. And here you are, still grown into a proper man."

Elijah chuckled and his gaze wandered to his sleeping youngest brother. It reminded him of his younger brothers and even of his sister. He had watched them sleep so often when they were still children. Sometimes he wished he could go back to the times when they were still so small. Far away from the harm this world offered and, especially for Rebekah, far away from marriage.

"I came here to tell you that father, Niklaus and I will go for a longer hunt. We plan to be gone for the next three days."

Esther's expression darkened and she turned her gaze away from her oldest son. Her hands clenched into fists.

"Does it have to be Niklaus? Why can't Finn go?"

She feared for Mikael's rage towards Niklaus. When they went for hunting, her boy would always come back bruised and with at least one new scar on his slim body. He was different from her other sons. Niklaus wasn't the strongest, but he fought the most clever. His strength wasn't in hunting, but he created exquisite bows. Fighting wasn't something that brought him joy, but Esther had seen the beautiful art he painted when he sneaked away from home. That all wasn't enough for Mikael. For him, he was a disappointment and when they went hunting, Esther couldn't protect him.

Elijah was the complete opposite and always had been Mikael's favorite son. But the feeling wasn't mutual. He hated his father for what he did to the brother he was closest to. Esther had noticed that sometimes also Elijah carried unusual wounds, not that he would tell anyone, but Esther was a good observer, which meant that he tried to protect Niklaus from his father. That wasn't a wise choice, as Mikael's violent behavior grew with his rage. Even Esther had been a victim of his brutality, which brought her to the greatest secret she carried.

"Mother, you know that we don't have a choice. Father wants his oldest son to stay and protect his family, while Niklaus and I will hunt to feed us. Those were his words."

Elijah sighed and looked away ashamed. He loathed himself for not having the bravery to stand up to his father. Mikael was wrong, he wasn't his strongest son, he was the weakest. A coward, that couldn't protect his siblings.

The mother stood up, walked towards Elijah and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Be careful, my lovely son. I'm so proud of you."

He lightly grabbed her wrists and took her hand from his face. Elijah thought that he didn't deserve his mother's pride. Still he had to prove himself before the gods. Turning around, he wanted to leave the hut to go to his own which he shared with Niklaus, but Esther stopped him.

"Elijah...I know you don't want to hear it...but next week, thirty springs will have passed since your birth. For Finn it's even thirty two. Our neighbors started talking about why you haven't chosen a bride for years."

Shaking his head, he looked at his mother determined and slightly annoyed. They had this topic for over ten years now.

"Our families' bonds are strong, there are enough children in the clans. We don't need to marry, mother. You know that."

Esther threw her son a pleading gaze. She wished for nothing more than for her children to find happiness and to welcome more daughters and children to her home. The witch wanted to share her gifts with her grandchildren, as most of her own weren't interested in theirs.

"But it's tradition, Elijah. Fjelda and Sigrid from our neighboring clan caught an eye on you at our last feast. And what about the widow from our village, Tatia?"

Elijah chuckled quite amused and shook his head before he turned around to leave.

"Give me another month to find my chosen bride on my own. If I won't, I will meet every one of the girls you find worthy."

His mother seemed to be satisfied with his answer and she let her son go, still being worried about their hunting plans. Esther took one last glance at Henrik before she went to care about her herbs and distract herself from her worry.


	2. Chapter 2

When Niklaus was still too young to join Mikael and Elijah hunting, Elijah actually had liked the trips. Usually Finn was with them then, he and Elijah were equally good at shooting animals with a bow. Their father was always satisfied and they bonded. It was the only time were Mikael could be some kind of a father, he was calmer and enjoyed being away from home. Just in the wilderness of the woods.

Since Niklaus was old enough to come with them, Mikael had released Finn from the hunting duty and instead took his younger son with him. But it was just to make Klaus afraid, to humiliate him even more. He didn't took him because Niklaus was a good hunter, but when they were alone, Esther couldn't interrupt him while he beat his son. But always there were those marks. Not visible, Mikael insisted, but he couldn't hide them from a mother.

At first, Elijah just watched. Or, better said, he looked away. He couldn't see the brother he was closest to being beaten until the boy screamed. His sounds of pain filled sleepless nights. Those whimpers when Mikael was finished. Elijah had taken him into his arms to, helplessly trying to heal his brother.

Over the time a darkness, rage, grew inside Elijah. He had the courage to step between his father and Klaus, but he only made it worse. Never would he win a fight against his father. At those trips, Niklaus and Elijah came back equally bruised.

Elijah and Niklaus laid on the ground close to each other, both men held their breaths as they were focused on two deers not far away from them. Splendid animals, well fed, almost a pity to kill them. But this was survival. The older brother knew that was the reason why Niklaus actually hated hunting, he never wanted to kill those animals and disturb nature. Elijah had learned to turn off such thoughts. Maybe that was why he was a good hunter, he never hesitated.

All of a sudden, the deers seemed startled and jumped up from their position and then, at that exact same moment, they let go of the arrows in unison. They cut through the air, but only one arrow hit the target. The arrow Elijah let go was buried deep in the deers head and killed it immediately. Klaus' arrow shot into the deers leg. It fell to the ground and struggled to get up again.

The younger brother gasped and quickly got up, he didn't want to do this. He didn't want to torture the animal. But his hands always shook when he was about to do the shoot. Usually, it just caused to miss the target, but today, it made him harrow the poor creature. Suddenly, Mikael was behind them and grabbed Klaus' shoulder with a bruising grip. He snarled at his son.

"Have you seen what your pathetic incapacity brought you?"

He dragged him to the animals. Elijah sighed and shook his head, but followed them. His hands clenched into fists. The rage was building up inside him, but it was of no use.

"Kill it now, Niklaus. End the torment you caused it!"

Mikael pressed Klaus head down into the fur of the still breathing and struggling animal. He pulled out a blade and handed it to Niklaus. It was the worst for Klaus. He always avoided slaughtering the animals and now he simply couldn't. His deepest urge was to help it, to heal it, even if it was already to late. The arrow went through important muscles and it probably broke its fragile leg when it fell.

Next to them, Elijah started prepping the dead deer. It distracted him from what happened right beside him. He heard Klaus' heavy breathing and it hurt in Elijah's heart. His brother wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

"Do it, Niklaus! Do it!"

Klaus still hesitated, even when his father pushed him further and further. Panic grew in his veins and made it impossible to do anything. Mikael's yells seemed so far away now.

"Father!"

Elijah raised his voice, he couldn't hear it anymore. The deer had started to scream itself, combined with the harsh words coming out from his fathers mouth, it made Elijah snapped. Mikael threw him a death glare, but still Elijah stood up, pulled out his knife from his belt and cut through the deers neck cleanly. For a short, relieving moment, everything was quiet.

"At least he cares for a life. We already lost that."

The older brother whispered, directed at his father before he turned around and walked away. He wouldn't beat Klaus now, his pride would refuse to let him to that now, after his own son taught him a lesson. But he would later. Maybe both of them.

For now, Elijah just needed to be alone. He went deeper into the woods, away from the paths that would make them return home without getting lost.

He walked and walked not exactly knowing where to go, but he knew these woods since he was a child, so he wouldn't get lost. But suddenly, he stumbled over something and fell to his knees. With horror he saw that he didn't stumble over the root of a tree. It was a body.

Quickly he turned and shook the person by the shoulders, but he or she didn't react. The face was covered by a hood, so he couldn't tell if it was a man or woman. What he also couldn't tell if this person was still alive.

Elijah felt so helpless in this moment, he had no clue what to do. He had been on the battlefield twice before and had seen some men bleeding and dying, but he never had been responsible for their survival before.

He saw blood sipping through the clothing the person wore, but he was too afraid to have a look at it. Pulling the hood back, surprise hit him. It was girl. Feminine features determined the small face. Long lashes touched the deathly pale skin under her eyes. But what was the most striking was the silver hair that spread around her hair. Now it was more of a dirty grey-ish color with rotten leaves entangled in it, but Elijah could imagine how silverly it must shine when the sun touched it.

She was the most beautiful woman Elijah had ever seen.

He only could keep himself from touching her perfect face when he noticed how blue her lips were and how...dead she looked. Elijah already was about to give up and assume that she was gone. But then he saw a slight movement in her chest. It slowly raised up and down. She was breathing.

Elijah's breath hitched in relief and he quickly took some of the fur and leather garment he had on off and wrapped her in it tightly. She needed to be kept warm. Who knew how long she had been laying here in the cold, on the floor with nothing but thin clothing on.

"Please, don't die."

He whispered when he picked her up and cradled her into his arms. Her head fell backwards and he tried to stabilize it. She barely alive. He had to do something.

Elijah ran the way back he had taken to get away. He needed to get her to father. Maybe he could help her. There was no other way, he didn't know what else to do.

"Father!"

As he came closer to their camp he screamed. He cursed on the inside that they weren't closer to their home, his mother would've know what to do. She and Ayana had healed so many warriors.

Mikael and Niklaus walked towards Elijah with a serious look. They expected the worst and were relieved when they saw the older Mikaelson on his feet and well. But when they saw that he carried someone in his arms, they frowned.

"Help me! She's barely breathing!"

Elijah yelled, panic obvious in his voice.

„She?!"

Father and son said in unison and gave each other a glare afterwards. They followed Elijah with their eyes as they saw him placing the girl down on the deer fur they used to sleep in. She was already wrapped in pieces of his own clothing.

Mikael looked down and shook his head. This was pathetic. He acted like Klaus would've done, it probably would be better to release her from her torment. Bending down, he pushed the fur aside and saw the blood and ripped the thin material covering her apart.

Klaus immediately looked away, Elijah didn't know if he couldn't bear seeing the bad looking wound or if he did it out of respect because her breasts were now exposed. Elijah sighed, this was typical for their father. He hadn't had an ounce of respect in him.

Carefully he arranged some fur over her intimate parts and had a closer look at her wound. It looked infected, but it wasn't bleeding. Mikael said nothing for a moment and then sighed, but his voice was sharp and cold again.

"The wound already stopped bleeding, that won't kill her now. What will probably kill her is the cold and even if she survives that, she'll die of a fever afterwards. Better put her out of her misery."

Mikael mumbled and walked away which left Klaus and Elijah alone with her. While Elijah carefully wrapped her into blankets again, his brother knelt next to the door.

"I won't let her die. She's a fighter, she probably survived days out in the cold."

The older brother spoke and caressed her pale cheeks. He wanted to let her know that she was safe now, but she was still unconscious.

"I will help you brother, I promise. We won't let her die."

Elijah lifted his gaze and looked Klaus into the eyes who returned his determined gaze. The bond between the brothers had never been stronger. They would be there for each other and also for this woman.

He bend down and whispered into her ear. His breath felt so warm against her cold skin. She was like a ghost, for a minute he even thought that he was just dreaming of this beautiful, helpless girl he found in the middle of the woods.

"Listen to me, you will not die. Not under my watch. I will bring you home, wherever that is." 


	3. Chapter 3

She didn't wake up until the night. It scared Elijah to the ends. Her lips started to get a rose color and her breathing got more even, but still no evidence of consciousness or that she would wake up soon.

When darkness came, Elijah had no clue what to do with her. His father was already angry with him because she took nearly all of the blankets they with them. Mikael's older son had only taken his and Niklaus' fur so their father couldn't tell the boys to give him his back and complain about the girl already interfering in an enjoyable hunt. Luckily the brothers sticked together and were determined to save her.

"You should warm her tonight, brother. It'll help getting her temperature up."

Klaus cheeks flushed on his serious face which made Elijah smile. He was still so innocent concerning women, which his brother considered honorable. Elijah was happy that he himself and his siblings hadn't lost their respect concerning women like Mikael.

"I don't want to invade her privacy, Niklaus. The fur keeps her warm enough."

His fingers couldn't help but touch her silver hair. Never before had he seen it on a younger woman. Usually only elders grew white hair.

"I think her survival is far more important than her privacy. You know what mother always told us. Body warmth, staying close together while sleeping when we get lost outside, is the best."

Of course Elijah knew. His mother taught them things like that since they were children. Survival was hard in their times and knowing such things was essential to live long enough to start an own family. To fulfill their duty towards the clans.

"And how do you want to stay warm?"

Niklaus smiled at his brother and sat himself in front of the fire. They started to whisper to no disturb their father.

"I'll just stay close to the fire. We can swap places in the night, I'll wake you."

The older brother nodded and placed himself next to the girl and wrapped his arms around her coated body. He covered himself in some of the leftover blankets. His chin on top of her soft hair, he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. Even though she smelled like blood and dirt there was still something sweet about her scent. It changed, some hours ago, when he carried her, she smelled like death.

Elijah really hoped she would survive. Her body felt warmer now and lit his hope. He prayed to the gods that they would save this girl. Whoever she was, a live was always worth being saved, especially when it was a helpless, injured woman.

But who would hurt a woman in the first place? Even though he had fought in battle, Elijah couldn't think of any reason to hurt females. They usually weren't involved in battle. He also could never understand why warriors raped and killed the women of the conquered village. How brutal and lavish. Most of them could be integrated to be good clans members. But no one would listen to a young warrior like he was.

His last glance was at his brother before he feel asleep. Klaus stared at them with a slight smile on his face. It felt good to do this together with him, something against their fathers will. This was the brother's little rebellion and at the same time, they would save a life. It was a calming thought to sleep quietly.

Both brothers didn't get enough sleep that night. Elijah stood close to the girl while he was watching the fire, checking her temperature then and now. He knew that Klaus would be uncomfortable to sleep that close to her, so Elijah gave his brother a spare fur blanket so he would a little bit warmer.

His mind raced about simple questions and thoughts. But the most prominent was what they would do with her. He needed to bring her home, to his mother so she could help the girl coming back to full health. There was still the possibility that she would never wake up though. Elijah tried to not think about it yet.

It was very early in the morning when Mikael and Klaus awakened. His father stood beside his son shortly, looking down to the injured girl while shaking his head and sending Elijah a grim look. He disappeared into the woods after telling Niklaus to come with him.

Elijah could see fear in his brother's eyes, but he still obeyed. It was the best he could do for the girl. Distract Mikael, so Elijah could stay behind with her.

The silence was a relief for Elijah and he sighed. Sometimes he liked simply being on his own. It wasn't granted often.

Just when he wanted to get himself something to eat, he heard a gasp from beside him. It came from her. When Elijah turned, he caught glimpse of intense green eyes, staring into the sky. Her eyes reminded him of the woods that surrounded them when the trees got back to live in spring and spread their new, healthy leaves.

Her full lips were parted and she breathed heavily. Elijah didn't know what to do, he just kneeled next to her, frozen in motion.

She woke up. She was breathing. She was beautiful.

Probably she was beyond confusion. The girl had no clue where she was and was certainly afraid.

Then, her gaze suddenly bore into his and Elijah was taken aback by the intensity of her stare. She looked right into his soul and maybe even far beyond that. He felt like he was stripped of every secret he kept, every event his eyes had seen. For a moment he forgot all trouble, all sorrows about keeping his family alive.

Maybe she was a siren. He heard countless legends about those monsters seducing men into their own death. But those were telltales. Right now he couldn't imagine that she could hurt anybody. She herself had a look of despair in her eyes. When her eyes were still closed, he judged her as being innocent, but now he was sure she wasn't. Beside fear and pain, there was a fire burning inside her. A fire that could be tamed by no one.

She tried to get up, but her breath hitched when she noticed that she was injured. Moving that wound wasn't a good idea, so Elijah lifted his hands to calm her.

"Don't be afraid. I won't to anything to you. I found you in the woods, injured. You're save now."

Was she? Elijah wasn't really sure himself. From all the dangers lurking around his father was the closest, but he surely wouldn't kill her now that she was awake. It went against the clan's code of honor.

She seemed to think for some time and freed him from the spell her eyes had him on. He knew his mother was practicing witchcraft, but never before did he more believe in it.

After she came to the conclusion that she wasn't in urgent danger, she removed the fur from her body, only to notice that he clothing was ripped apart. She gave Elijah a suspicious look before her eyes fixed on the still bad looking wound. Flinching, she pulled her fingers back after she touched it. The wound was deep, but still just cut flesh and didn't hit any vital organs or bones.

There was this look of helplessness back on her, a feeling she surely didn't feel often. Pride radiated off her, a certain self confidence that made her fight against everything.

"We should clean this wound. There's a stream nearby, I can help you."

She shook her head and furrowed her brows while she concentrate on getting up. That expression nearly made Elijah smile. That girl seemed to be very stubborn, even beyond his sister. For Rebekah stubbornness would stop when she would be injured. Not that Elijah ever would allow this to happen.

Shortly after, she fell back after a little cry of pain escaped her lips. So she wasn't mute, she could talk, she just didn't want to. He could understand that. Elijah himself was often speechless, especially when he was afraid.

A little playful was on his lips when she gave up and she rolled her eyes at him. For her, this was the last of her dignity she lost.

Elijah picked her up and cradled her into his arms again, like yesterday, while she held the remaining cloth over her breasts. As he went, he grabbed clean piece of clothing that he brought with him, so she could cover herself when they were finished cleaning the wound.

She was so small against his chest, Elijah was sure her height wouldn't fit her character. Her silver hair swung over his arm as he walked. It would reach her waist when she was standing.

Not shortly after, they arrived at the stream and Elijah placed her back on the ground and wetted a cloth and carefully started to dab around the wound. He noticed how bold she was, he could only imagine how painful this was, but she didn't even flinch. The only movement that gave her away was the tension of her abs that tensed when he touched the wound and relaxed when his hand drifted away.

Her lips were now a thin line and her green eyes stared at Elijah, which nearly frightened him. But he kept on, trying to distract her by speaking to her.

"You know, we will go back home mid day, so we'll be there before it gets dark. We will take you with us if you allow us to and my mother will take care of you. I hope she'll be able to heal you before the fever gets to you. But she helped more difficult cases before you, believe me. She practices witchcraft, do you know that from your home? Wherever this might be, if you're healthy again and you want to leave, I'll bring you there, I promise."

When he spoke the last words, her eyes went from being completely blank to sad. Speaking about her home seemed to hurt her even more, so Elijah dropped the topic.

"What is your name anyway? If you don't tell us, we have to find a new one for you. I'm really bad with names, my mother or my sister has to do this duty. It's unbelievable, they look at a person and they always have a fitting name for them. But I don't think they have ever seen someone like you before."

He finished cleaning the wound. It didn't really look much better, but he did the best he could. He looked at her still dirty hair, he was sure that she would like to take a bath, but not in the cold stream. This had to wait until they got back home.

Changing her into clean cloths was very awkward. She could held herself upright on her own and Elijah had to help her with closed eyes, because she insisted by motioning with her hands that she didn't want him to have a look at her private parts. But after a lot of struggling and enraged sounds by the girl, the fabric fell around her curves and covered her neatly.

Elijah carried her back to the fire only to see that his father and his brother weren't back yet. He couldn't follow them now because he didn't exactly know where they went and he felt more comfortable staying at her side, watching that she wouldn't do anything stupid even if everything about her told him that she wanted to be alone.

Sitting behind her near the fire, he made it his task to pick all the leaves and small branched out of her messy hair. It was a little excuse to touch those soft lengths, he was curious to see her when she was clean and bathed. She had something enchanting about her, something that made him feel comfortable around her.

The girl sighed and seemed to relax a little. Closing her eyes for a second, she made a decision. The decision to trust him for now.

"My name is Hela."


	4. Chapter 4

When Klaus and Mikael came back, they started packing for their journey back home. As always Mikael's expression looked like he was going to explode, but at least Niklaus seemed to be happy to see Hela awake and well.

Their father didn't say a word to the girl, but he nearly killed her with glances, which surprisingly, Hela didn't seem to be afraid of. She didn't avert her gaze when Mikael stared at her with a look Elijah had learned to be afraid of.

Both brothers held their breaths while it lasted and were relieved when Mikael mumbled some insults before he went on his way. That was good. Him not becoming violent because of this was him showing that he hadn't anything against her.

The brothers quickly grabbed their belongings and the flesh of the animals they hunted, but faced another problem. How should they carry Hela all the way back home? She wasn't able to walk with her wound.

"Of course I can walk."

Hela interrupted the brother's mumbling. She was annoyed by the fact that they stood right beside her, talking like she wasn't here. To proof her point, she took all of her mental and physical strength and got onto her knees.

Elijah and Klaus immediately stretched their arms out to help her up. How foolish of them, it annoyed her even more. The death glares she send both of the men luckily made them understand.

She didn't need help. Hela wasn't raised to allow assistance from anyone, especially not men. After taking a deep breath in, she stood to her feet, ignoring the pain that shot from her stomach to her arms and legs. Her vision was blurry from the pain and her knees wobbly, but somehow she got to stand.

Mikael came to a halt behind his sons, a slightly impressed expression on his face. He had been injured like her before and knew what pain she felt.

"At least she's a warrior."

He continued on his way and the brothers followed him with surprised glances. Never had they seen Mikael compliment someone like her...or hardly anyone.

"...or overly stubborn."

Elijah grinned Klaus as he spoke and stepped closer to Hela. She lifted her chin and pulled up her brows in question.

"Well, little warrior, let me support you while walking."

He teased her with the 'little' part, but she just sighed. Elijah was right, she couldn't walk on her own for the whole way. Wrapping an arm around her small shoulders, he grabbed some of the other belongings, before they started walking down the path that led back to the village they lived in.

It was devastating, because Hela grew weaker with every step she made. Over time, Niklaus needed to support her as well. Sweat dripped from her face and her skin grew even paler. The fever started.

Even Mikael did what he could. He took some of their belongings to carry on by himself, so the boys could help Hela walking. She was close to unconsciousness when they arrived at the village. Elijah swept her up in his arms again and ran to his mothers hut, drawing a lot of attention from their neighbors.

"Mother!"

He said determined when he found her inside together Ayana. The older brother carefully placed her on the bed, staying close by her side, looking at his mother for help. Hela's lips moved but no sound came from her mouth. The fever already had taken root in her.

"Who is that?"

Esther said gazing down on her, but not moving to examine her. It drove Elijah mad. Why did she care who she was?

"I found her in the woods yesterday. She's injured and needs your immediate help."

He bent down and cautiously pulled the shirt up to reveal the infected wound. It looked even worse than before.

His mother looked her son in the eyes and sighed, shaking her head before having a closer look. Her expression didn't calm Elijah, it frightened him. She looked like there wasn't much hope. But she had been awake and talking to him...not much, but she was conscious and on her way to get better. Or had allowing her to walk made it even worse?

"Tell Rebekah to get the herbs I told her about last week. And don't come back here, Elijah. She needs her privacy now."

Torn, Elijah nodded not really convinced. He didn't know why he couldn't be with her. But Esther never liked it when someone was watching her practicing her abilities, aside from Ayana and Rebekah.

The last thing Elijah saw before he rushed out was Ayana and his mother kneeling beside the bed, taking each others hands over Hela's stomach.

Realization took over Elijah when he processed what happened. Her name was Hela. Who would name a child after the goddess of death? But then he was reminded of the tale his mother told Hendrik before they went hunting. The tale he had heard since he was a child. It couldn't be.

She couldn't be the legendary princess that disappeared after she was abandoned by her father.

It took three days for Hela to fight the fever. Even if the woman that Elijah had brought her to did everything she could and ointments really helped healing the wound, it was Hela's task to fight. Without her strong will, she would've died. She wanted to live, even if she had lost everything.

Hela had drifted in and out from consciousness. Sometimes she heard the women whispering that they didn't think that she had a chance of survival. But she proved the wrong. When she sat upright in the morning, completely clear and free of fever, they were more than surprised.

Again she didn't say a word, but the older of the two women didn't either. Just the younger one, probably her daughter, chatted without making a pause. Hela didn't complain, she helped her taking a bath and dress. She never had worn a dress before and she grew to hate it. The young woman felt like she couldn't move. Where should she attach a sword or a bow to?

"What's your name?"

Hela asked the other girl all of a sudden. She was a blonde beauty, probably some years younger than Hela. As she had chatted about nothingnesses, she combed Hela's silver hair. It now shone again and fell down in soft cascades down to her waist.

"Rebekah. Elijah told us your name is Hela."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She seemed close to him.

"Is Elijah the person who brought me here?"

She asked, annoyed by herself that she hadn't remembered his name. It was good to know names, it could save lives.

"Yes, together with my other brother Niklaus and my father. You would've died out there if it wasn't for Elijah."

Rebekah started to braid her hair. She couldn't help but touch it for as long as she could. Envy rose up to her, but she then noticed how pathetic it was to be envious of a girl that nearly had died.

"I know. Where is he now?"

Hela would like to see him. She had no clue why exactly, maybe she just wanted to thank him. To be honest she didn't know how to behave towards him. In her culture, it was a shame to be helped. It was forbidden to ever look the person in the eyes again.

"Probably outside, waiting desperately for mother to let him in. She forbid him to see you, I think it's for your best. You looked...really close to death."

Nodding, she looked at the younger girl, examining her. Hela liked that she was honest to her. Rebekah seemed to be a strong young woman, who still had to break out from her parent's chains to show her true nature.

"I'll tell Elijah that you're awake."

She stood up, giving Hela a little smile.

"...I don't know how long you'll stay here, but for that time being we should stick together. I always wanted a sister."

Her attitude made Hela smile. The girls seemed to be alike. Stubborn. Strong. Hela would make it her task to show Rebekah how to evolve in the middle of a world ruled by men.

Shortly after Rebekah left, her brother stepped into the hut. His eyes widened a bit, numerous emotions visible on his face. There was relief, surprise and admiration.

She was such a special kind of beauty, Elijah had never seen someone like her before. Now that she was clean and healthy, it was even more clear that she was pure perfection. No man would be able to resist her and Elijah already felt that he was under her spell, just by looking at her.

None of the two spoke, so Elijah silently wanted to sat beside her on the bedside, but not it were Hela's eyes that widened and she quickly slipped away from him under the sheets. The young man frowned, hurt that she seemed to be afraid of him.

"I...I'm sorry. I'm just not used to be that close to man unless he tries to kill me. Or me killing him."

When the surprise was gone, a slight smile tugged on her lips. Elijah noted for himself that he needed to be careful beside. She seemed to be scared away easily. Like a shy deer. But she was no deer, that comparison was completely unfitting for her, he was sure of that.

"I do apologize, Hela, but I can't really follow you. Would you like to explain where you are from?"

Hela decided that she wanted to stand up a bit. She fiddled with the skirt of her dress and cursed quite indecently before she got up. Carefully she stretched all of her stiff muscles. Joy flooded her when she noticed that she could stand without feeling dizzy or nauseous.

"It's a really long story, Elijah. I will only tell you bits of it when I think you deserve it."

She bit her lip to surpress the smile. Here she was, playing with a man. Never would she have thought that she would ever talk that much to a male. Or even be friendly. Of course, he saved her life, but still he was a stranger, so she had to be careful.

"So this is a game?"

Elijah on the other hand couldn't hide his amusement. She just jumped off from the cold grip of death and now she acting tough in front of her savior. What a wild beauty. Seeing her in one of Rebekah's dresses only added to that. It emphasized her delicate curves, a part of him wanted to explore every inch of her. But that wasn't the right time to think of something like that.

"I was raised by a tribe amazons that live in parts of the woods you northmen never have dared to explore. They live in unison with nature and beyond the rules of mankind. There's just a certain hierarchy that everyone follows. Most of the women are like me, abandoned as a baby, scared away by husbands or fled from violence. They're the best warriors you've ever seen. Sometimes, clansmen try to get a head of a amazon because your king pays a high price for them. But none of them came back. No one had seen an amazon with their own eyes, so still most people think they're just telltales told to scare children away from entering the woods."

The older Mikaelson listen closely, slowly putting together the pieces. It fitted the legend, it was just the unexplored part of the princess' life.

"You're referring to them as 'they', not 'we'. Aren't you a part of them if you were raised by them?"

A sad expression came to Hela's face and Elijah already regretted to ask the question. He had that strange urge to keep her happy.

"I was. I was one of their best warriors, on the way to be very high ranked. But loosing in battle is the deepest shame in their culture. Usually, amazons that loose in battle are banned into exile for 5 years. It doesn't happen really often...But when, they don't survive on their own in the wilderness. It's a death sentence. Well, I lost in battle. I don't have a home to return to."

For a short moment she felt despair. She had no clue where to go. Here, she was a stranger and she learned how northmen handled strangers. They surely wouldn't allow her to make a new home here and Hela wasn't sure if she wanted to.

Elijah again did something that surprised her. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it. His skin felt rough, like her own. Hands of a man that worked much and hard. She froze in motion and stared down to their connected hands, but now she didn't shy away from him.

"You will be welcomed here, Hela. I'll try everything in my power to convince my father. I won't allow you to be homeless, facing the danger of living alone. You're under my protection."

She withdrew her hand and turned away from him, thinking for a moment.

"First of all, I don't need protection. I can take care of myself. But I also know when it's clever to accept help, even if it opposes every principle I was raised to. I'm just not sure if I'll be able to adapt into your culture."

Elijah believed that immediately. How she stood there, proud, confident, beautiful and fully aware of that, it would be hard to press her into a life that often handled women cruelly. The only thing Elijah could to is stay by her side and protect her when he needed to. He just wouldn't tell her of that little vow he made with himself.

"I'll come back when I talked to father."

She didn't reply anything, so Elijah took the hint and stood up to leave. Just as he was about to vanish through the curtains that separated the small rooms, she spoke again.

"Thank you."

Elijah could only imagine how much it took her to thank him. He himself knew how it was to be raised such a strict way and how devastating it was to overcome it. Showing weakness didn't lay in Hela's nature.

For him, it wasn't a weakness. It was development and he was curious how this woman would change his family and his own life.


	5. Chapter 5

The whole Mikaelson family was gathered outside, standing around Elijah and Mikael who spoke, no actually fought, over whether Hela should stay here or not. Of course Mikael wouldn't give in that easily, Hela had already assumed that. She had already met people like him, female versions of course. He didn't want another damsel in distress he had to take care of. It triggered Hela's temper, she could take care of herself...but not now. She needed a place to stay.

"I will not listen to any of this, son. We don't need another women in this household."

Luckily Rebekah's disappointed expression lit up her mood. The women had grown to like each other, which was very fortunate, even though Hela knew that for Rebekah she was more of a puppet to play with. The girl really lacked a sister.

"Father, she's homeless. She will die out there!"

Hela felt more and more humiliated by the second. Her pride was crushed with every word they exchanged. She was raised to rather die than rely on help. But she didn't want to die. Her pride was something she couldn't afford.

"What do I care! Give her fur and some meat and sent her away, that would be more than generous."

Elijah's teeth clenched and he wanted nothing more than to hit his father right across the face. It made him feel weak that he even had to ask. He was a grown man, not a boy anymore.

"You raised me to be noble, to be a good man, father. And sending a woman in need away is cruel!"

Now Hela had enough. She needed to speak for herself. Elijah wasn't her husband, nor responsible for her. Hela stepped in between the men, her back facing Elijah and staring Mikael directly into the eyes. They all gasped, usually no one women had the audacity to be this bold towards Mikael.

"I'm very thankful that your family saved my life. But still, you talking about me like I am some useless...cunt, disrespects my pride. Mikael, I have two healthy hands, I can work, I can be useful. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll prove to you that I'm willing to work for my food. If I prove unworthy of your trust, I will go away."

They stared each other in the eyes, everyone around them confused that Mikael hadn't already slapped her across her pretty face. But maybe something in her fascinated him, the fact that she wasn't afraid of him. She didn't know better. In her life, men had been worth nothing to her, so it was taking a lot of her to subordinate.

The silence grew more uncomfortable by the second, but neither Hela nor Mikael were willing to loose. In the end it was Mikael who sighed and gave up. For the first time in his life.

"You will do everything me or my wife say. You won't make any trouble or I will show you the way out myself...and I really hope you don't prove to be rightfully named after the goddess of death."

Another gasp went through the rows. How could a girl, a stranger, convince Mikael to be part of his family. There really was something special about this girl. She had something on her that put people under her spell.

Hela nodded Mikael a thank you, before she turned and met the hostile eyes of Esther. But she didn't let herself be intimidated. She ignored the older women and turned to face Elijah who looked at her in surprise and fascination. Hela gave him a small smile before she walked away, not sure where to go, but she had to move. Those days laying in the bed had made her restless.

Elijah followed on her heel. He jogged shortly to walk beside her.

"That was impressive. Never before someone dared to talk to him like that."

She smiled and slowed her pace so she could look around. The village seemed peaceful. People were working, or resting. Children played while their parents tried everything in their power to keep them alive. What a devastating circle.

"I need to know more about you life here. We should play another game. I ask you a question and when you answer, you can ask me something about my life with the amazons in return, to which I'll answer. And so on."

Quickly Hela had figured out Elijah's curiosity towards her old life. She wasn't obligated to keep the amazon's secrets anymore, so she could use it to get information.

"You have a thing with games, don't you?"

Hela looked up to him and this little, sly smile appeared on her face again to which her eyes twinkled dangerously which took Elijah completely off guard. She was up to games, but surely not someone to be messed with.

"Usually we had no enemies to defy, so how do you think we learnt to fight? We imagined fighting situations, since we girls were children we played such games. Well, you got the procedure. What position do women have in your society?"

The girl already drew looks. People that caught sight of her silver hair looked up. Most men couldn't stop staring at the young, mysterious beauty, while women looked at her with envy in their eyes. It wasn't an easy task for her to stay out of trouble.

Jealousy burnt in Elijah when he noticed the men staring at her longingly. He silently had declared her his when he saved her, but of course he knew that he didn't have any right to act like this.

"Women do the duties that are needed at home. They give life to children, raise them, cook, clean...That was quite different where you grew up, right?"

She shivered by the thought of living such a life. That was one of the few things she thanked the amazons for. Hela was born to be a warrior, not to be a men's plaything.

"Yes, that's quite right. Such tasks were divided, but no one was really good at it. We were trained to be warriors, to craft things, but mainly we were taught how to survive. Of course, no one can survive on their own for long, but at least no one had to really subordinate. There was a leader, but we such that person and she didn't dictate what we should do. She decided with us."

Hela looked down, remembering the hierarchy. It was ironic, what she told Elijah sounded like she had been free. But surely she wasn't.

Elijah noticed the change in her face and couldn't keep quiet.

"Still, you don't seem like you're missing it."

She sighed and found a bench to sit on. Usually she could think better when she was in motion, but right now she was too distracted by all those new impressions she got in the village. She never had seen such a settlement with her own eyes before.

"I wasn't free. They never let me decide, because I was different. Among them I was still an outcast, because of my story."

Elijah couldn't hide his curiosity. He needed to ask her if the legends were true.

"I think your story is quite the legends among the clans."

She smiled lightly, it sounded ridiculous to her that someone could tell such a tale. But now it was her that was curious.

"Well, what do the northmen tell about me?"

The young woman played with her skirt. She already hated the feeling of wearing it. It was there to compliment a woman's shape, she was sure of that, but she never had learned to find any male or female body parts to be attractive. But with Elijah beside her, another kind of curiosity was in her. She wanted to explore, see how men differed from women. Something that would've been a forbidden thought in her old life.

"They talk of princess called Hela. Her mother died when she was born and so her father sent her away to withstand a certain trial. The next day she was disappeared. But until today some people think that the princess survived and was raised by savages. Her father still quivers in fear every night."

Both of them chuckled while Elijah spoke the words, but Hela's expression darkened when he mentioned her father. This was a topic with a really deep meaning to it. But on the other hand it was simple. She wanted revenge.

"Those tales are quite right. He should be afraid. The girl prepares every day to kill him."

Elijah's eyes widened. Even though he had known that there was something different on her, he never expected her to have such thoughts. She seemed ruthless, right, but not ready to kill. There was a kindness on her that made him assume that she was strong, yet gentle and forgiving. But he could understand. Sometimes, when his own darkness got into his mind, he had similar thoughts about his own father. But Mikael hadn't accused him of murder when he was baby and sent him into a life of loneliness and isolation. Because that was Hela was, she was simply lonely. She wasn't used to people caring for her, that's why she seemed so cold sometimes.

"How do you want to kill the best protected man the world has ever seen?"

The darkness was still on her face and it started to scare him.

"That, Elijah, is none of your business..."

Her name rolled off her tongue fluently and a shiver ran down his spine.

"...and you seriously cheated in the game! You asked a lot more question than I did."

All of a sudden, the light was back on her face and her full lips parted into another smile. Hela didn't remember when she had smiled this often before. Maybe never. But even though the society here was something that would be hard for her to accept, it felt lighter here. Life might not be easier here, but she wasn't alone. People actually cared about each other here.

"Rightfully so! I saved your life, I should have some questions in advance."

He said jokingly to which they both laughed. Their shoulders touched as they unconsciously moved closer to each other on the bench.

"Oh please, you will torment me with this forever, won't you?"

When the laughter stopped, her face turned serious again and she looked to the ground thoughtfully. There must be so many things racing around her mind.

Elijah took the pause to examine her beautiful facial features. It was like the gods wanted to define perfection and harmony while creating her. A face that would draw so many gazes, with hair that made everyone urge to test its softness. A body that would make men daydream. A character that was worthy of a queen. Maybe she was a goddess after all, but she didn't knew it. But in Elijah's imagination she wasn't the goddess of death, for him, she was pure seduction. Even if she hadn't had a clue how she appeared to him or any other person.

"How can I live up to Mikael's terms after what you told me about your way of living? I don't know how to cook or to clean. Im not...feminine."

The irony of her words nearly made Elijah chuckle. Judging her curves, she was the role model of being feminine. But that wasn't her point.

"I can't help you with that to be honest...but I can show you how to wield a sword in your free time."

Usually Elijah wouldn't think of showing a girl how to use weapons. But it was a good excuse to see her how often as possible.

An amused smile tugged on Hela's lips, but she quickly hid it behind her hand. He had no clue that she already was very experienced with the sword, but she was very curious about what he wanted to teach her.


	6. Chapter 6

Elijah had snugged out two wooden swords and had led Hela to a more quiet place in the woods. But she immediately had seen through him. He didn't want that his father saw them training. It would probably ignite his high pitched temper.

Hela quickly forgot about Mikael when the curiosity about how the northmen fight took over her. It would definitely be fun to fool Elijah a bit at first. She stood opposite him and crossed her arms behind her back, giving him an eager look, faking being completely clueless of how to fight.

The young man looked at her confused when he saw that she hadn't picked up her sword. He sighed and hesitated. Was it really right to do this? To teach a woman how to handle weapons? Elijah knew his fathers opinion about this, but he himself was usually more open-minded, but he was afraid to hurt Hela.

Sighing he let his sword fall down and strutted towards her. He picked up her sword and stepped behind her. His left arm reached around her and grabbed her hand. Her back touched his chest and he was surprised how warm she felt. Elijah swallowed and tried his best to hide how interested he was in her. He looked over her shoulder and placed her fingers around the handle of the sword the right way.

Hela hid her amused smile when she heard his breath hitch. This would be so much fun. It seemed that he wasn't used to be close to women as much as she wasn't usually this close around men. Adding, he was also overly careful with her, as if she would break the second he touched her.

He let go of her when she held the sword steadily. Elijah again went standing opposite her. His face was serious, but Hela found it hard to not laugh.

"I will now show you some of the basic movements. We'll go slow at first. At first, just try to block my hits."

Overly slow he lifted up his swords and attempted to do a hit. Hela waited until the sword was close and then lifted hers up just the right way to block him. He frowned, but she just flashed him an innocent smile, before she stopped the act.

Still smiling she pushed his sword away violently and Elijah stumbled backwards. She jumped back at him like a snake and reached forward, one hand bend behind her back and landed her first hit. At first, he could block her hard hits, but he still was stumbling backwards. Whenever he tried to fight back, she just ducked under his sword or even jumped over it. Never had he seen someone fighting like that. She was way smaller than him and he was surely stronger, but she was just so quick, he could barely see her movements.

Hela took her time and put on a little show before his back touched a tree. He tried hard to avert the inevitable, but after a short while, the tip of her sword was on his throat. She bit her lip to keep herself from laughing and ruin his pride even more.

"You may be strong, but you're too slow. I suggest you should improve that."

All of a sudden, he attacked her again with a grim looked on his face. Surprised Hela stumbled backwards, but quickly was back into the fight again. She blocked some hits, before again he made the mistake to use too much of his strength. He needed too long to lunge out for a hard hit. Hela easily lifted her foot and kicked against his chest so he fell backwards and onto the floor. The air was knocked out of his lungs. Her foot was still on his chest and her blade again against his throat, while she smiled down to him.

He needed a moment to breathe, before he couldn't help but laugh. Elijah relaxed onto the floor when Hela joined in the laughter.

"Wow, I lost against a girl..."

She helped him up and nudged him because of his remark.

"...I guess I can't teach you anything. Sorry, I had no clue."

Hela helped him clean off the dust from his clothes and still smiled. Maybe she could really be happy here, at least this part of the day was fun.

"No, I'm sorry, I could've told you. But the expression on your face when I fought back was priceless. Maybe I should teach you."

He just rolled his eyes. It really hurt his pride, but he took it with dignity. The way she fought, he really would love to learn it, but he knew someone how could use it more.

"No, I think I can't take that offer. But I know someone that could use some extra training more than I do."

Klaus wasn't the best fighter, it was obvious. He was intimidated by her movements, he actually shivered. But he had potential, he was a bit lighter built than his older brother. He definitely could outmatch him by being quicker, too, but for some reason he didn't really make use of that.

"Fighting is like dancing, Klaus. Remember, it's all a game. Don't imagine me to be your enemy, think that I'm your partner. Again."

Her green eye bore into his which scared Niklaus, but he gritted his teeth and tried this little mind game of hers. He actually imagined that he was dancing and it actually worked. His movements became more swift, his body moved more fluent.

Elijah stood by, leaned against a tree and watched. He couldn't take his eyes off Hela. The way she fought was breathtaking. She called it dancing, but Elijah actually found the image of a fighting snake more accurate. Hela teased her sparring partner to come closer, she nearly lured them by holding her hands behind her back, showing off her body unprotected. The fact that she was a woman added. But when he looked closer, he could see it: her whole body was under tension while she waited, ready to shoot forward like a cobra, ready to do the kill. A silver braid of hair swinging behind her.

Sometimes he asked how it work out on a battlefield. He put together from her tales that she never had been fought before and that the last time she just had been outnumbered.

"Have you ever killed someone, Hela?"

He asked curiously and it distracted Niklaus, who immediately had to take the consequences by being knocked to the ground. Without any reaction, Hela helped him up. It motivated Klaus to not being hit after every failure.

"Don't let yourself be distracted. Again...and no Elijah, I never killed someone. It wasn't necessary. Have you?"

She looked at Elijah while Klaus attacked and still could block his attack without even blinking an eye. Elijah hesitated but sighed.

"Yes."

She didn't reply anything and just went on with her training. But it was obvious that she wasn't judging. Of course she knew that sometimes it was necessary.

Weeks passed and their little fights became more and less famous. Nearly every young person of the village came by to watch. Sometimes even Rebekah, Finn and Kol. When they noticed Finn coming they were sure that Mikael and Esther knew, too, but they seemed to ignore it.

Hela had to work a lot with Esther, she actually hated it and it was obvious that the mother and the younger woman couldn't stand each other. Still she tried her best to learn everything, but she wasn't really talented. She always looked forward to train with Klaus and the other young villagers.

When other people watched, she always let Klaus win to let him be the brave victor. At first, the other boys were hesitant to train with a woman that had been beat by one of their weakest. It was again one of her games that she enjoyed most. The surprise on their faces when she let some of her skill look through. It was easy to beat them all, it was just for Hela's fun and also for Elijah's. He couldn't help but laugh every time when the girl again finished one of his friends off with ease. Over time they all started to call her 'cobra' all over the village. She made loose friendships among the villagers, even though every man simply admired and wanted her, which Elijah not liked.

To be honest he sometimes tried to fight her again, but of course he never succeeded. But with every sparring they did, they came closer to each other and developed some sort of choreography that made it look like a piece of art.

But it also made Elijah fell more for her with every day. He was just sure that the feelings weren't mutual. Whenever another man looked at her, jealousy took him with a death grip. Elijah was so afraid that she would choose one of her suitors. On the other hand he didn't had the guts to tell her how he felt. He feared that it would destroy the friendship they had.

That was another side effect of the sparring. Niklaus, Elijah and Hela became the best of friends. They had mischief in their minds whenever possible and told each other everything. Every afternoon they spent somewhere talking and laughing.

One day, Hela stood together with Rebekah and Esther and peeled potatoes. Elijah and Klaus weren't far away while Elijah was sharpening the real swords and Klaus was building new bows for selling. The girl looked over to them longingly, wanting nothing more than to join them in the 'male activities'. Rebekah, who she also was good friends with, nudged her slightly to make her notice that Esther as watching her. Hela quickly cleared her throat and continued preparing the potatoes.

Both Elijah and Klaus looked over to the woman. The younger brother chuckled.

"She really is special, isn't she?"

Elijah sighed and adverted his gaze back to his sword when Hela lifted her eye again and smiled when she saw them looking at them.

"That she is."

Klaus looked over to his brother, smiling knowingly.

"You should tell her, brother."

The older brother shot the younger a glare while he continued on his work. But he couldn't really concentrate anymore. He was capable to stop looking at this beautiful woman.

"What use is it, if I don't think that she feels the same way?"

While expecting the new bow, Klaus chuckled again.

"You'll never be sure if you don't ask her."

He actually had a point with this. It just would take so much courage off Elijah. But Klaus was right, looking at her longingly from afar was even more useless. He just had to find the right time and place.

Elijah was interrupted when their mother called them over. They immediately strutted over to the women.

"Get some apples from the big tree...Hela, you can join them."

Esther sighed after she noticed how involuntarily pleading their newest family member looked at them. Hela hid her bright smile and got a huge basket before she walked to the woods with Elijah and Klaus beside her.

When they were put of sight, she giggled happily.

"Finally!"

Grabbing both the men's hands and ran off with them laughing. Hela had changed so much in the past few weeks. She was happy, nearly cheery and forgot about the horror that laid behind her. She still had this one mission, but she wasn't prepared enough for this. Her time would come.

They walked to the huge, old apple tree that was deeper in the woods. The best, tastiest apples grew there, but they always hung that high, they needed to use their creativity to get up there.

Hela stepped forward and thought about it for a moment. She then turned around to the young men behind her.

"I've got an idea! Elijah, lift me up so I can reach the apples. Nik, hold the basket, I'll drop them in there."

Both of them chuckled at her determination, but did as they were told. Elijah bent down to grab the smaller girl by her tights and lifted her up into the air and moved so she could grab the fruits. He had to be careful as the ground was slippery from rotten apples.

The trio couldn't stop laughing all the time, but they were actually quite successful. More and more apples landed in the basket Klaus held up. But then, Hela's openly flowing hair fell into Elijah's face and blurred his vision, so he stumbled over a fallen apple and fell backwards. Hela fell with him, but her fall was eased because she landed directly onto Elijah's hard upper body. For a moment there was silence and Elijah and Hela stared into each others eyes. It was one of those moments they had all the time when they sparred, but now it was more intense. His hand cupped her cheek and pushed her hair behind her ear.

But the moment broke when Nik beside them cleared his throat Elijah immediately grabbed her by the waist to stand up with her and set her back on her feet. He lightly smiled down to her, but Hela's face was still serious. Those feelings, this tingling in her stomach, it confused her. It was all completely new to her.

In the evening Elijah stood close to the their hut and he again watched Hela from afar. It was starting to get creepy. Rebekah and her were playing with Henrik and Elijah couldn't help but get lost in watching this carefree smile. He noticed that her eyes told so much, but she tried to show not much at all. Elijah could see that she must've lived through so much.

"Father."

He said calmly when he noticed Mikael stepping beside him. The older man crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Son."

Silence erupted, but Elijah's father continued to speak after a while.

"She really is good with children. Good qualifications to become a proper wife. She's of age, she should be wed soon."

Panic flooded Elijah and he turned to his father with wide eyes. Not now. It wasn't the right time. Still, he had assumed that Mikael would come around with this topic sooner than later, but Elijah had pushed it aside for as long as she could. So Elijah had to be brave enough to tell his father.

"Father, I want to take her as my bride. I'm choosing her to be mine, if she wants that, too."

Mikael looked at his second oldest son and bursted out laughing. But he wasn't actually amused.

"Son, I don't care if you like her or not. You're my second oldest, she's a nobody, not even born inside one of the clans. You, Elijah, will meet the girls from the other village whenever we have something to celebrate. Niklaus can have her, that I don't care about. And I don't care about what you're doing in private, but the official way will play out the way I find it fitting."

He had grabbed Elijah shoulders. Mikael was serious, his decision was made. Niklaus would have Hela while Elijah had to marry another woman. A woman he would never love, because his heart was already given away to the girl from the legends.


	7. Chapter 7

Some days later a feast was held. A funeral of a brave warrior took place and tradition allowed northmen to feast after the funeral so the warrior would have an easier journey to Valhalla.

Hela found it a bit morbid, but she tagged along. She was now part of this society, so she had to take part in their events. Later one she would admit that it was quite a beautiful ceremony to say goodbye to a fellow clans member.

Dying in battle was something she honored. It was way better than to die old, sick and pathetically.

She stood with the Mikaelsons while they all watched how the warrior's oldest son, a boy around twelve years of age, set his father's boy and the wood built around it on fire. He was very brave, he kept himself from crying until he was back in his mother's arms. It was so tragic, the woman, not older than Elijah, carried her little baby in her arms while she had to be strong for her older son. She lost everything, maybe she could live a year or two from her husband's heritage and the help of the other villagers, but sooner or later, she had to marry again, because she still had her most valued gift: the ability to bear children. If she was lucky, a gracious man from the village, just like Finn or Elijah would take her and she could stay with her firstborns, but if she had to leave, she would leave her oldest son behind.

It was cruel, but that was the way it worked. A world Hela's father had built.

She spared a glance beside her and caught Elijah staring at her. He quickly looked back up when their eyes met. The man stood a bit farer away from him, Rebekah and Niklaus between them which was figurative of how they spent the last days since the night they came back from the apple tree.

Elijah had split from the trio. He didn't talk to her, unless he needed to, he avoided her, he didn't even came to their sparring fights anymore. It hurt Hela deeply, she missed him there. He belonged to her, but that fool didn't seem to understand that. She wouldn't come to him begging on her knees. But she didn't expect him to want that, he always had treated her equally.

Even Klaus noticed it, but he didn't say a word as he didn't want to step into their growing feelings. He glanced at Hela, whose face was clouded by her hurt feelings. It made him feel sorry, he, like everyone else, couldn't stand seeing her not smiling, without that shine in her bright eyes.

Something else stepped between Hela and Elijah. Four girls arrived that night, two for Finn, and two to visit Elijah. Mikael had chosen them for his eldest son and was grateful enough to at least let them choose between two possible brides. Another tradition Hela would never understand. This whole quarrel around marrying was senseless.

When the fire burned, the sadness and grimness in the village faded and the people started their feast. While some played on improvised instruments, others danced to the cheerful tune.

A group women had gathered near the fire and around Tatia, another widow from the village. She had lost her husband last year, but instead being reminded of her loss, she seemed carefree and chatty. The girl was kind of popular among the other young women of the village, because she was very pretty, laughed the loudest and told the newest gossip. A type of girl Hela loathed.

Rebekah pulled her towards the group against her will. She rolled her eyes as she followed after the younger woman that had come out to be a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes she seemed even more stubborn than Hela was. That's why she wondered why Rebekah had this huge wish to belong to the group of other women and to be liked by them, even tough they always showed her the cold shoulder.

As always, when Hela arrived, all eyes were on her. Most of them were amazed by her aura of being different, because that's what they all wanted. They wanted adventure, to stand out from the mass. That's what they envied of Hela, who actually wanted the opposite.

Only Tatia was the one that welcomed her with a look of hostility. Her envy went beyond the normal. She saw competition in the silver haired girl.

Before the brunette who loathed Hela that much, she turned around to face the four girls from the other villages who sat a bit separated from the group. They looked at her shyly, obviously intimidated by her presence. Hela's grim expression broke into a light smile which immediately calmed the girls.

She took a seat beside them, which was a great gesture as most of the other girls refused to sit by the stranger. But most of them still saw Hela of not belonging to them, so it didn't really stand out.

"Do you enjoy the feast?"

The girls quickly nodded and Hela chuckled to the straight lie. At least the expressions of the girl's that were there for the older brother lightened when Finn arrived and took both of the girls to dance with him.

Hela couldn't bear seeing the other girl's disappointed face and so she stood up and lured one of the men to hand her some mead with the dashing smile of hers. She came back with a satisfied grin, but it faded when the girls only flashed her a sad smile after they sipped off the drink.

"What is clouding your pretty faces?"

She asked with concern as she sat back beside them. The older one spared her a glance and looked Hela up and down.

"Elijah...we, um, came this long way to meet him, but he only has eyes for you."

Anger flooded her, but she kept it under the surface as much as possible. If they would know...he was actually ignoring her for days know and she had no clue why. Maybe their thought was completely wrong and Elijah figured, that he didn't feel anything more than a brotherly love towards her.

But when she looked up and again caught him staring at her, she proved herself wrong. There was a certain sadness in his eyes, that she identified as quite the opposite of what she just thought. The girl's were right, he only had eyes for her. He wanted her. But then again she couldn't understand his strange behavior.

For some reason, it only angered her even more. She took a deep sip of her mead before she stood up again and looked at the girls determined.

"Well, let's change that. Come with me."

She turned towards the young men who stood a bit aside from the dancing people. The girls immediately obeyed and followed after Hela. She felt the eyes of all the men on her, but she ignored them completely and walked up to Elijah. While passing him, she hit him hard with her shoulder intentionally and just slightly tilted her head to motion for him to draw his attention to the brides-to-be that flashed him shy smiles.

Hela returned the glare she received from the handsome man and went on her way over to Klaus, her next mission. There was quite much to do for her this evening.

Suppressing an amused smile, she stopped next to the younger brother.

"Either you finally go over to her and ask her to dance, or you'll turn around and make sure your brother dances with those poor girls."

Klaus snapped out of his trance when he heard Hela's voice. She had caught him gushing over Tatia again, like many times before. He was thankful that she didn't judge or tell anyone, even if it was obvious that she couldn't stand Tatia.

"Why don't you honor your own advice and follow your heart, Hela?"

The friends both chuckled lightly as they turned to see the the girls dancing happily with a half hearted Elijah. He couldn't stop himself from looking at Hela. It both made butterflies fly in her stomach and a pain spread in her heart. She sighed.

"Because sometimes two hearts are probably not meant to be together."

Now it was Klaus that rolled his eyes and Hela elbowed him in the ribs to which he winced in pain. Sometimes she herself forget how strong she was.

"Please, you hopefully don't believe that yourself. You know that it was Mikael who chose them for my brother."

She nodded, of course she knew that. But still, he didn't do anything against it.

"Well, Niklaus, let's just say we're both fools and I hope that at least you will end this foolishness soon."

With that, she wandered off to sit somewhere else. She chose to watch the children play again, it was what calmed her the most. Never had she known that she actually liked kids. it make instincts come to surface that were locked her whole youth and the children seemed to love her back. They always wanted to be her center of attention.

But today, they seemed to be little troublemakers that wouldn't let heal rest for a second. She didn't have the chance to drift away with her thoughts when the little ones started to fight.

The children stood in a circle around a little girl that was crying and screaming because the other children had taken something from her. It was a little ball made of fabric, nothing special, but probably highly valuable to the little one.

Hela didn't recognize her as one of the families' children, so she most likely came together with the brides to be. But they didn't seem to care as they were deeply devoted to charm the men.

Seconds later, the girl attacked Henrik who had the ball and they fought lying on the floor. Hela immediately went between them when Henrik tried to punch the girl.

"Elijah!"

She called out to the boy's older brother, so Elijah himself could settle it with him. Hela herself grabbed the girl and lifted her up from Henrik which was harder than it sounded. After she had gotten the complaining little thing a bit farer away. From the corner of her eye she saw that Elijah had taken Henrik with him and was talking to him with a serious expression, it made Hela smile.

"What's your name?"

The girl turned her face away and refused to tell the silver haired woman. She was probably afraid of her. Hela sighed, but didn't let it bother her.

"Alright...look, it's good that you fought. We girls are not supposed to being beaten by boys. You're strong, you can fight for what's belonging to you, ok? But rule one: do not get caught, rule two, beat them with cleverness. Got it?"

She smiled at the girl encouraging and she slowly turned her head to look at her. After she nodded, Hela handed her the ball, which she immediately clutched to her chest.

"My name is Ciri."

Her voice was barely a whisper, but Hela grinned and ruffled her hair.

"Well, Ciri, you seem to have a warriors heart. Now go and shake hands with Henrik and it'll be forgotten."

Again she nodded and the girls turned to Elijah and Henrik. The children walked towards each other and shook hands before they quickly parted. Elijah and Hela on the other hand faced each other awkwardly, but there was still this little, peaceful smile on his handsome features, that made Hela's knees weak.

She saw that he wanted to leave again, but Hela had enough. Grabbing the man by his arms she pulled him with her to the side so that they were hidden by the trees.

"Have you told your brother that it's not honorable to be impolite to women?"

He sighed and looked away.

"Yes, I did."

"Then why don't you follow your own advice? You've been ignoring me for a week. What have I done? Please, tell me, because I honestly don't know. Damn, can you at least look at me?!"

Before she could think otherwise, she placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look at her. Little sparks were felt by her where her hand touch his skin. His stubble scratched against her sensitive nerves and it felt surprisingly good.

He closed his eyes shortly before his intense brown eyes stared down into hers. They stayed like that for a way too short moment, before he gently removed her hand from his cheek. He placed a kiss on the back of her hand and let it drop to her side afterwards. She immediately felt cold when he didn't touch her anymore.

"It's not about you, Hela. You did nothing wrong, it's the contrary to be honest..."

Anger rose inside her because he didn't give her a clear answer. She wanted a reason, nothing more.

"Elijah, can't you finally tell me? You know that you can trust me."

Again he sighed and he seemed to stumble upon the words he was about to say. A certain sadness clouded his beautiful eyes and Hela would've loved to wipe away the reason of this nonsense.

"Father wants you to marry Niklaus soon...And I-I can't do anything about it, but I can't bring myself to watch you together with my brother...I know it's stupid but I..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Hela rushed forward and pressed her lips onto his. She mimicked what she saw some villagers doing some time ago, but she had felt the instinct. Hela wanted to kiss him, but she had no clue what would happen after their lips touched.

He was the first one she had ever let in. He was the first that was allowed to kiss her full lips.

At first, he hesitated, but all of a sudden, he grabbed her shoulders to pull her closer. Elijah guided her, his lips started to move on hers and she tried her best to follow his movements. Never had she felt better before. Those famous sparks shot through her body, a bundle seemed to built inside her stomach and her eyes fell shut as she simply enjoyed the feeling.

She was startled in an excited way when the tip of his tongue touched her lower lip. It took her some time to understand that he wanted her to grant him entrance inside her mouth, but he was a patient teacher. His hands steadied her thankfully, because she had no idea how she should stand on her feet on her own.

Breathlessly, they broke the kiss and leaned their foreheads onto each other. They both chuckled and their hands interlaced.

Together, they took a moment to get back to a steady pace of breathing, before they returned back to the feast. Words weren't needed.

It was them against the world now.


	8. Chapter 8

The next days were the beginning of a new thrilling game Hela and Elijah played. They tried to hide to their romance as best as they could and it was like a dance where they both pushed away from each other but couldn't stay away either.

After the feast everything returned back to normal. There were rumors about an upcoming war but no one seemed to take it seriously. Hela did. But she was the only one really prepared for battle. She urged to fight, she was thirsty for her father's blood, but it still wasn't the right time. Patience never had been her greatest trait but she did good hiding it.

She distracted herself from the smell of war in the air easily by not being able to take her eyes off Elijah. Not that she let him know. Part of her game was to let him chase her a bit, which made him even more keen to get her.

After finishing boring house work, she quickly walked off into the woods in the afternoon. She didn't have to check on of Elijah was following. He was. His heavy steps caused little tremors on the soft ground of the woods, while she blended in into nature perfectly. She could hear him very easily, as his stealth skill really lacked of expertise. But it was a game, so she had to take some risk.

Not to far from him, she jumped away from her hiding place and flashed him a ravishing smile before she disappeared deeper into the forest. Elijah quickened his pace, enjoying this little hunt.

The only thing that could give her away were he long, silver strands of hair that she let open in order to let the game become more thrilling.

Whenever Elijah came close, she suddenly vanished from his grasp. If she hadn't given him little hints, he never would have found her.

Her taunting made him impatient and so he decided he would finally end the game. He lunged forward, grabbed her by the waist and tackled her to the ground. Hela was caged under him, his much taller and broader body hovering over hers.

She smiled and looked him into the eyes, not able to say anything as heat spread across her whole body. It was like his presence radiated off this certain warmth that was only meant to be hers.

"You like to be chased, don't you?"

Elijah caressed her cheek while he was being lost in her deep green eyes. Since the kiss they shared, he craved for her in every moment of his existence. He couldn't work properly, he couldn't really talk to his friends. They started to tease him for his carried away look.

"I never thought that I could enjoy it to be caught."

Being so close to her drove the young man nuts. Her soft voice was soothing and tempting like a siren's. Maybe she was exactly this for him. His siren. But he had to be careful with her, she had no experience with anything, while Elijah had has his fair share of shared affection with women over his youth, but none of them had meant anything compared to what he felt for Hela. Every part of her made him feel alive, in love and utterly happy.

For the last couple of days he had pushed the thought of his father's words far away. He needed this little escape from this gruesome world, a world that would sell his love to his brother and threatened to shatter it all to pieces.

Hela noticed that his thoughts seemed to be carried away, so she reached up and clawed her hands into his soft, long hair and pulled his head down so she could reach his lips. Would she ever get used to this tingling feeling his touch erupted in her whole body? She couldn't think so right now.

They simply enjoyed their kiss for a long moment before they broke away breathless. Elijah's eyes had gotten even darker, his black pupils having the chocolate color chased away.

She felt the heat rush up to her cheeks and she giggled and started to shift under him, having no idea how much she teased him with the movement of her perfect curves.

"What is this heat in my cheeks? I felt it before, after our first kiss...and whenever you look at me."

Both of them laughed as Elijah rolled off her and laid beside her. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him so Hela could rest her head on his chest. All of this felt so natural. Hela had never been so close to anyone and yet her instincts told her all she had to do. Her tiny frame seemed to fit perfectly to his hard and tall edges. She felt protected, even though she knew she didn't need protection and was a much better fighter than him. But maybe it was more that he protected her from reality. What he told her at the feast still lingered in her head, but she was sure that they could overcome what his stupid, brutal father wanted.

"You're flushing, my love. That's something women do when men stare at them. I feel flattered that you react to me that way."

He laughed, teasing her with his words. Elijah knew that she hated it when he explained things as 'something women did'. Although they both knew that he didn't mean it serious, he loved to make fun of her because she didn't really understand the difference between men and women.

With a fake indignant expression she turned and suddenly it was her that hovered over him.

"If I 'blush' at every gaze a man threw me, I would look like one of Nik's paintings all the day!"

She referred to Niklaus' overuse of red color in his cave paintings due to those red berries that grew close to the village. The persons he painted had red skin, the sun was red, the ground looked more like a bloodstream than actual earth. They always taunted him with it.

Elijah chuckled but then pulled her down again so he could conquer her lips again. It was again all heat and their breath got quicker and heavier by the moment. With every kiss they shared it got worse.

"I really hope they stop that immediately, because you're mine."

He grabbed her hips and deepened the kiss when they heard someone clear his throat all of a sudden right next to them.

With a groan they pulled apart, both shooting Klaus annoyed glares. But when they saw that Tatia was standing beside Elijah's younger brother, they both stood up and awkwardly cleaned themselves off fallen leaves and dust.

"We need to talk."

The blonde man stated while he grabbed Tatia's hand and squeezed it. A smile tugged at Hela's lips, while Elijah just had a confused expression on his face.

Hela knew that Tatia wasn't the right woman for her friend, but she wished for him to have a glimpse at happiness, even if he had to probably learn a few lessons before he found his one true love.

"I see you listened to my advice."

She said smirking while she leaned her head against Elijah's shoulder. The silver haired woman spared a glance at Tatia, who only looked at Elijah, which bothered Hela particularly. A quite catchy assumption rose inside her, but she pushed it away quickly before she went for the brunette's throat.

"Likewise."

Klaus returned the smile, to which Klaus, Elijah and Hela chuckled. Just the other young woman cleared her throat, trying to get the attention back on her. Like always, she didn't feel comfortable when she was unnoticed in an conversation.

"We need to talk about your father's wishes...Elijah, you know that things can't continue the way they are."

Tatia's sweet voice made Hela sick. Elijah just sighed and glanced his lover. When she looked at him in question he quickly let his eyes watch the ground. He couldn't look her in the eyes while he knew that he couldn't take her as his wife. That he couldn't decide on his own. He was too weak.

"Actually, why can't it stay like this? Is it that bad not to be married? I don't understand."

Hela looked between her friends confused. The brothers shared a knowing glance, while Tatia just tapped her foot in impatience.

"You don't understand a lot of things. Haven't the savages taught you anything besides behaving like a boy?"

The brunette spoke arrogantly and Hela's hands clinched into fists. She had to admit, she had a really short temper, but this girl was really pushing her buttons. For Elijah, she tried to keep in control, but it wouldn't last that long.

"Tatia..."

Klaus nudged her, to which she only pushed him away and turned to him angrily.

"What? One among us actually has to live like a proper woman. What do I have to do with her being too stupid to understand the simplest things?"

For a moment there was silence. It could literally be felt how Hela lost it. She had enough, she wouldn't let herself be insulted. Right now she didn't care if she was Klaus' girlfriend or not, she saw red and the overwhelming urge to punch her right in the face was overwhelming.

Growling she walked towards the other young woman, but before she could punch that spiteful expression out of her face, she was stopped by Elijah's strong arms wrapping around her. Unfortunately, he was physically way stronger than her, but she tried to struggle against his grip.

Burning rage intimidated Tatia, so she stepped behind an utterly shocked looking Klaus to find shelter. What a coward, Hela thought. She couldn't protect herself. The girl needed a man to fight for her and that was something Hela couldn't respect. She was disgusted by Tatia.

"Let go of me."

She snapped at Elijah while she struggled against his strong grip. He wasn't hurting her, it took more to do that, but she as impressed by the muscles that rose under his skin. Surely he had improved a lot since they trained, she was very proud of it.

"I'm not. Because I know you would beat her up worse than any man could."

Suddenly, when she started to struggle harder, she seemed to have hit a very sensitive area of his. With a grunt he went to the ground holding his lower stomach and only then Hela realized what she had hit and immediately felt very sorry. But her pride refused her to apologize.

"I won't play by your rules. Insult me again, Tatia, and I won't let myself be stopped by anyone."

Her voice was cold as ice, her death glare directed towards Tatia was straight from hell. Hela knew that it would only cause the other girl to spread rumors of her being a maniac, but she didn't care. She took off, hitting Klaus' shoulder hard as she passed by. The poor boy really looked afraid of his friends. But sometimes the men needed a reminder of who was in charge.


	9. Chapter 9

Pride and stubbornness were Hela's greatest weaknesses. They always had been, even when she was the amazons, she picked up every fight she could and never drifted away from her strong opinions. That was probably why no one really liked her.

But sometimes, it just boiled over and she overreacted and went into blind rage. Her temper made her do those things, pride was what kept her from apologizing.

Hela and Elijah kept away from each other for two days. She didn't have it inside her to simply, go over and tell him that she was sorry. Deep inside her she felt awful for hurting him for something he wasn't responsible for. Still, he deserved it a little. Hela hated that he didn't stand up for their romance in front of his father. But she couldn't expect it from him. She knew how fearful he actually was of his gruesome father.

It didn't made it easier that Tatia never left his side since they fought. Now it was more or less official that Tatia and Elijah and Hela and Niklaus would marry. The young woman was all over Elijah, which surely wasn't part of the deal. It made Hela even more angry. So damn much that she wanted to take her rage out on something. She was in the mood to pick up a fight.

Fortunately, Klaus was that much of a friend, that he looked after Hela when his brother didn't. After she nearly punched a villager right in the face after he accidentally bumped into her, the blonde man grabbed her and pulled her with him.

"What is wrong with you, Hela?"

She shot a death glare at him, but she immediately felt sorry when she saw how troubled and hurt he looked. How selfish of her. Of course Klaus was the other part in this whole story who would get hurt. Sighing, she shoved off his hands, but calmed herself with pacing up and down behind one of the huts.

"Nothing. It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining brightly, the grass is green, the sky is blue, squirrels and rabbits are chasing each other in the woods, what exactly could be wrong?"

Hela said sarcastically through gritted teeth. Sometimes Klaus was still amused by her kind of wit. Other women were surely different concerning this. They never wore their hearts on their sleeves as Hela did, they always were in control. But that was the beauty of the silver haired woman. Her boyish behavior, while having a sharp sense of humor that only a wise woman could have.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you."

His eyes wandered to Tatia and Elijah who sat side by side. The girl giggled over an awkward joke Elijah made, which she didn't even found funny. But still, Tatia wanted nothing more than to get rid of Hela and have Elijah all for herself.

Klaus eyes clouded with sadness, while another rush of anger pulsated through Hela's veins. She intended to kill someone, but Tatia brought her really close to push her over the edge and choke her with her small, bare hands.

"Says the one who wants to rip his own brother apart, because your love shifted her attention away from you."

They shared a long gaze until Klaus sighed and admitted that he was as angry and jealous as Hela was.

"I think we both have the urge to destroy something. Come, we can do that without actually hurting someone."

Frowning, she trusted her close friend and followed him to a place a bit away from the village. It was a cave actually, the one he always painted at.

"You're not telling me that you want to calm me down by painting on the walls?"

She looked at Klaus confused who only chuckled and went deeper into the cave.

"Even tough I really would enjoy that, I meant something else. I'll show you."

In front of them there was a stone, a little hammer and a kind of metal that didn't have a form. It was already shingles's fancily, but didn't look like jewelry at all. Klaus lifted that the hammer and hit it down on the metal, until it started to gleam of heat.

Hela smiled wickedly and quickly got the hammer out of his hands.

"You're a genius, Klaus. That's exactly what I want to do."

For hours they worked together until the pile of unformed metal became a simple, but still beautiful piece of jewelry. With Klaus' help she made a golden bracelet that she could only imagine on a certain someone's wrist. A plan formed inside her head and she smiled to herself while she played with the bracelet in her hands.

Pushing her hair back over her shoulder she turned to her friend, smiling ravishingly. A spark shone up in the young man's eyes, but she was too distracted to even notice it.

"Thank you."

Hela leaned forward and kissed Klaus on the cheek, to which he flushed deep red. She giggled and stepped a bit away from him.

"Is that would 'flushing' looks like. It looks pathetic."

Teasing the younger brother, she laughed and ducked from a leftover piece of metal he threw at her. Quickly and grinning widely she ran outside to find Elijah.

She had found her calmness again. Of course she had a really short temper, but usually she could also be really calm, which helped her a lot in sword fighting, because she could just be quiet and unmoving for quite some time.

But a nervousness crawled up inside her, which was another foreign feeling for her. It happened often concerning Elijah. Was this was people referred to as 'falling in love'? Even to that there were controvert opinions. Some talked about it as being the best that could happen, other that it was the worse. That it brought only problems. Hela could see this point, but the butterflies in her stomach told her to see the good things in it.

The young woman really needed to be careful. Creating relations, tying bonds was something that made her vulnerable. This was a lesson the amazons had tried to teach her for her whole life, but right now she ignored it completely.

Hela found Elijah in the same place as before. With Tatia still next to him. But she wouldn't let herself be chased away again. Her hands straightened her hair so it would fall like a silver waterfall over her slim shoulders. She took a deep breath before she stepped to them, towering over the brunette girl.

"Leave us for a moment."

She didn't bother to be polite. Her glare was intimidating and a little glimpse of fear was visible in Tatia's eyes.

Elijah's gaze lifted, a look of admiration prominent. A little smile tucked on his lips. Finally.

"Why don't you leave yourself?"

After keeping her slight fear of the creepy girl back in check, Tatia retorted snarky to the silver haired beauty. She was so close to get what she wanted. Because all she wanted was Elijah.

"Tatia, please."

Elijah said softly. He was actually being rude by sending her away, but he really wanted to talk to Hela. Make things right. He was so proud that she finally beat her pride and came back to him.

While mumbling insults about Hela, Tatia stood up and left with a death glare directed towards her rival. Hela smiled satisfied to herself. She was obviously gloating.

"Hela. Don't."

Grinning, Elijah pulled his love to his side and wrapped his arm around her. Fortunately they were already at a quite hidden place, no one would hopefully catch them there. She leaned into his side and let her head sink to its side against his cheek. They simply enjoyed the moment for some minutes, both of them with their eyes closed, listening to the soft sound of their breaths.

"I made something for you."

Hela whispered and sat up so she could face him. Elijah's hand cupped her cheek and stroke her cheekbone with his thumb.

"But I have all I want right in front of me."

His words turned the butterflies in her stomach to bees that flew looping inside her and made every nerve in her body tense. She smiled like a fool and Elijah leaned in to kiss her full lips, but she turned her head so his lips touched her cheek. A smirk plastered on her face and he immediately knew that she was teasing him. He tried to grab her again, but she pushed him away giggling.

She stopped her teasing shortly after and pulled out the bracelet from her pocket. Gently she grabbed his right hand and attached the thin golden ring to his wrist, without knowing what to say and deeply flushing. Hela felt embarrassed by making him gifts and could barely look him in the eyes.

Elijah lifted her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. Now she didn't refuse his lips to capture hers. Both of them lost track of time, it felt like hours while at the same time feeling like mere seconds until they pulled away.

"It's amazing. I will wear it from now on until the day I die."

At this point both didn't have a clue that this would be a really long time. He pulled her back into his arms and simply held her, still knowing that he would have to touch a sensitive topic.

"Hela...tomorrow there's a feast. Where two things will happen."

His voice was hesitant and full of sadness and unease. Hela turned in his arms to look at him in worry, motioning for him to elaborate.

"First...Father will announce the engagements..."

With a sigh she rolled her eyes and sunk back into his embrace.

"...the second announcement will be about an upcoming war. We'll go into the fight in a few days."

It made her turn around again, looking at him with a frown.

"I'm coming with you."

She stressed it as a statement, like it was out of question. Hela had fought for her whole life, why shouldn't she help protect the village that had given her refuge, fight side by side with the other warriors. Of course in that case she would fight for the king, her father, not that he knew, but it was a necessary exception.

"Hela, you can't. You're a woman."

Elijah said with a sigh, not it was him that couldn't look her in the eyes. He was so conflicted.

"But why? You know I'm the best fighter around. I'd beat you at my worst days."

She nudged him with a little amused smile. Surely Elijah knew. Hela would probably save a lot of comrades. Still he knew that he couldn't think straight if she fought by his side on the battlefield. His protectiveness would take over and would be a danger not only for him, but also for Hela and all the others. He couldn't imagine what he would do if she got hurt.

"Women are not allowed to fight in battle."

The young woman shook her head and stood up, stretching her hand out for Elijah to take.

"We'll see. I'll speak to your father."

His eyes widened and he shook his head violently.

"He'll beat you to the brink of death for even asking."

She narrowed her eyes at him and lifted her chin proudly.

"Do I look like I would let myself be beaten?"


	10. Chapter 10

"You're too slow, Elijah."

With her arms crossed in front of her chest, Hela stood next to the fighting brothers. Klaus was getting better and better, today he was on the edge to beat Elijah for the first time.

Elijah was struggling hard to keep up with his much quicker brother, his hard hits never came through. A smile tugged on his lips when he heard Hela's teasing.

As the fight continued to drag, both fighters obviously equal with their strengths and weaknesses, Rebekah and Henrik, their littlest brother joined to watch the fight. They both grinned and cheered for their older brothers, while Hela tabbed her feet, mimicking the rhythm of the fight.

"Look, brother, our sister came to watch your defeat."

Elijah said teasingly and Hela chuckled. Clever strategy, in a serious fight things like that could provoke the enemy into attacking first.

Klaus smirked wickedly and suddenly lunged forward and after some quick, sharp blows, he had cut off Elijah's leather belt which ended the fight.

"They have come to laugh at you, brother."

They all chuckled and the men let their swords fall to the ground. Hela patted Klaus' back, proud of her pupil. He was a quick learner and he really had improved. Hopefully it would one day impress Mikael, so he would stop seeing his son as a failure.

With a smile, she walked up to Elijah and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning forward to whisper into his ear.

"You're way too slow."

She continued her teasing. Elijah wanted to capture her lips, but Hela leaned back to avoid his lips playfully.

"See?"

The young woman breathed and Elijah had enough. He grabbed her neck lightly and pressed his lips onto hers, both of them smiling into the kiss. It was this short moment, where they were simply happy. His family was gathered around them, they had each other, no serious worries for now. But unfortunately with them, it never stayed like that for a long time.

"Why does the glorious victor not get a kiss? That's not fair, Hela!"

Klaus laughed as he watched his brother and his lover. He was so glad that Elijah found his one true love. His own difficulties with Tatia clouded his mind, but he wouldn't let it come between his and his brother, because Klaus knew that Elijah only had eyes for Hela.

The carefree mood was shattered quickly when Mikael and Esther came by. The mother of six children looked at her husband warily, begging him to not loose his temper with his eyes. Hela would never understand why a woman would beg for something. It was pathetic. Why didn't Esther act when she saw her children being abused?

"Glorious victor...why don't you show me some of your tricks?"

Mikael said through gritted teeth. He pulled out his sword and pointed it at Klaus who looked frightened. His shoulders sunk down, nothing was left of the formerly proud young man. His father was able to destroy Hela's hard work within seconds and it made her so angry.

Elijah felt her rage and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from immediately attacking Mikael. She shot him a glare, it wasn't in her nature to just watch.

In the mean time, Mikael attacked Klaus, yelling insults at his son. Of course he was stronger than Klaus, as he was much more experienced and he fought like he was in battle, not sparring. When he suddenly pushed Klaus to the ground violently and still no one said a word, Hela had enough.

Quickly, she freed herself off Elijah's strong arms and stole the sword from his hands. Then, before anyone could even notice, she was behind Mikael and the tip of Elijah's sword touched his neck.

Everyone held their breaths, looking at the silver haired girl in shock, worry and maybe even a bit of admiration.

"Why don't you fight someone equal to you and stop taking your rage out on your children, warrior?"

Hela said calmly and a gasp went through the people that watched the interaction. Klaus and Elijah shared a look. What Hela did was madness. Mikael would kill her for questioning his pride.

Slowly, Mikael turned around and Hela casually let the blade sink to the ground. She looked up, straight into the much taller man's eyes. Of course she wasn't afraid. Why should she? In contrary to Mikael, Hela knew that she could fight him.

"And then you think I should fight you, girl?"

He laughed, but it wasn't a cheerful laugh. It was dark, gloating and meant to provoke her. But Hela was unimpressed and simply nodded.

"Let's make it more fun, shall we? We could bet. If I win, you will let me fight by your side in battle. If not...I will never bother you again and be the perfect housewife for one of your sons."

She looked him right into the eyes while she said it and saw how Mikael's eyes sparked in amusement. Hela nearly bounced in excitement to show him how wrong his false pride was.

"Well, if you stick to your word, you will finally shut up. So, why not, brave girl?"

Secretly, Mikael truly admired her bravery. He wished his sons were more like her. It was a pity that she was just a woman.

Hela stayed in her position, only raising the sword a little. She tilted her head a little and winked at Elijah who looked at her with fear in his eyes. She felt a little insulted that he actually was afraid that Mikael could kill her.

"Your turn, old man."

Mikael had a short temper and Hela would make use of that. He seemed cold hearted, but his emotions were clear on his face. How silly. It wasn't long until the older man attacked her with wilder force. But Hela simply raised her sword to block the hit and stepped aside, which made the experienced warrior stumble. She could have easily thrown him to the ground, but she would make a little bit of a show out of this.

He was surely surprised by the strength this tiny person could bring up. Hela slowly played with the sword in her hands, its weight on her palm was so comfortable. The blade was a bit uneven, she would have to tell Elijah later one that he should take better care of it.

Now he tried to attack her from behind, as she was facing him with her back to provoke this action. It was the moment when she showed why everyone called her 'the cobra'. With the speed of a lightning, Hela turned around and blocked Mikael's sword. Smoothly, she moved her blade to send him stumbling backwards again.

She wouldn't even say that Mikael was a bad fighter. He was strong and relatively quick, but he let rage consume him. The warrior jumped in on every provocation she offered, his movements mirrored on his face moments before he attacked. It wouldn't be much of a disadvantage on the battlefield, because most men fighting there were stupid enough to not notice. Most of them fought like that. But when they were through the silly mass of poor farmers, blacksmiths and smugglers, the more cleverer, elite fighters came. That was often the moment when the real battle started, because not the numbers decided over winning or loosing, it were the tactics and cleverness that would change the favors.

The man opposite her probably didn't know this.

"You let the rage take over you, Mikael. It will inevitably lead to your death."

He was serious, but of course Mikael's pride wouldn't have himself being taught by a little girl. An orphan that he took in. Maybe the greatest mistake he made in his life.

Hela stretched the fight out a little longer before she had enough. It was her time to attack. After she ducked another blow, she shot forward and fought the man until his back was against a tree. His rage took over and with all of his strength, he tried to fight back. But it was useless. Hela was simply the better fighter. Suddenly, she made him stumble again and then pushed him hard with her shoulder which made him fall to the ground. Hela put one foot on his chest and the tip of her sword hovered over his throat.

"...and dead."

With an unimpressed expression, she held her hand out to Mikael. Of course he didn't take it and jumped to his feet, coming close to Hela, invading her personal space. His face was a grotesque mask of rage, but Hela didn't advert her eyes from his death glare. Mikael didn't say another word before he took off.

"Seems like I need a sword."

She said with a slight smile before she handed the sword back to Elijah. His lips were parted in shock. Like all the others, he stared at her. They all seemed to slowly process that their father just got his ass kicked.

"I don't know if I should laugh or be afraid that he'll kill you in your sleep, Hela."

Rebekah was the first one to speak. An amused grin tucked on her lips, but she tried to suppress it by biting her lip.

"Ah, don't worry. I know you'll protect me, Bekah."

Hela laughed, to which Rebekah joined in. Slowly, the expression of the boys seemed to soften, too.

"Please, just don't be the source of a bloodbath in my room. I like the fur that covers the floor."

It was Rebekah's way of saying that she liked Hela. She appreciated it much. The Mikaelson's had become her family and she was happy that they seemed to accept her, too.

"Thank you, Hela."

Klaus stepped forward and simply pulled her in for a surprise hug. She chuckled and lightly padded his shoulder. His grip was blocking her airways.

"I think your father needed that, I can't stand watching someone I like being abused. Hopefully he won't try that again."

Hela squeezed his shoulders and smiled, strutting back to Elijah and silently taking his hand. He still seemed frozen, but his face showed admiration and love, so Hela knew that he wasn't mad. The young woman felt herself turning back into her more female self as she stood on her toes, whispering into his ear.

"We should get ready for the feast, Elijah."

She stole a small peck on his lips as she continued walking back to the huts, dragging Elijah with her. His heart swelled with pride for the woman he was fallen for. She was extraordinary and she was all his...well not fully considering the upcoming wedding plans, but he surely wouldn't allow his brother one night alone with his girl.


End file.
